I know this is long, but I guarantee that by the end of it your feelings about Joe Biden will have changed dramatically.
I don't think there are too many politicians alive who can express such a connection to the families of those who have lost loved ones. I swear Joe Biden's heart must be three times the size of most human beings.
Obama/Biden 2012!
You just know the repugs are going to try and spin this that he is unstable. I applaud his honesty.
ReplyDeleteSure, he gives a good speech. So does Obama.
ReplyDeleteBut here's how Joe really feels about about military families (and every other hardworking family).
It's about the water-carrying Biden did for banks to get the notorious Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 passed for them.
Money quote for those who don't want to wade through the article at the link:
"I've never filed bankruptcy, but like Bill Clinton I'm moved by those demographics. Not so our Joe. Of all the presidential contenders lined up on the stage in Chicago, he was the only one who had voted for the bill. Not senators Dodd, Clinton and Obama (Edwards was no longer in the senate in '05), and not House member Dennis Kucinich. Only Joe Biden.
"And he didn't just vote for it, he helped carry the water on it. Some Democrats tried to soften the bill with a series of amendments; for example, exempting military personnel at war in Iraq. Biden joined the majority of his colleagues -- all the Republicans and too many Democrats -- in knocking down every possible change that was offered."
Just remember - Joe Biden had the chance to help military families, but he chose to bend over for banks (many of whom, not coincidentally, who make their HQ in Delaware) instead.
I know your heart's in the right place, Gryphen. But I can't get misty-eyed over a speech by this corporate tool.
It's President Obama - in case you forgot that he is your President.
DeleteGet some tears for the people he was talking to - for those who lost their sons, daughters, husbands, wives - instead of going off on a tangent related to your own hobby horse.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan should never have happened - but some political fools decided they should & sent the young and the willing to die - that it should not have happened doesn't stop the sympathy for those who died and whether VP Biden voted for or against any legislation in the Senate does not remove his feelings about those who have lost their loved ones.
What a tool....Biden was talking about loosing loved ones....the world of the caring call this empathy. :)
DeleteMemorial Day is the day dedicated to honor those in the military who lost their lives serving their country. Vice President Biden was there to address those military families that had lost a loved one-- something with which he could identify. It was not a political message. It was meant to be an emotional connection, shared by someone who also suffered a loss and knew how they felt.
DeleteIt must gall Sarah Palin and the Republicans that Joe Biden was there, delivering that speech-- instead of the losing candidate for VP. In the debate between Palin and Biden, Joe mentioned losing his wife and daughter, sitting at the hospital beds of his sons, wounded in the accident, not knowing if they would live or die. Sarah did not turn and look in his direction or express one bit of sympathy nor understanding. What a contrast! There is a reason why Biden does connect with people, while Palin and the Republicans only know how to throw mud and hurl political charges during a memorial service. Don't bring up politics at a funeral, either.
You have obviously never lost a loved one and felt the pain he was talking about. There was nothing political in that speech.....just heart. Take your bitterness and feed on it if that is what you want. I feel sorry for you.
DeleteThey said "loose" a loved one (Whatever that conveys, I have no clue). Joe didn't diminish nor trivialize their loss (like someone wishing people a "Happy Memorial Day, also, too!"). This speech was in no way political, just a human being sharing his experience of loss, a tragedy shared by the audience.
DeleteAnyone reading more into it just doesn't get it.
@5:43 Sounds like a Sarah rant.
Deleteno, sentence structure far too correct for Sarah---just as pissy tho'.
DeleteLuddy
That was a very moving speech. I liked it.
ReplyDeleteAlways one in every crowd! SIGH.
ReplyDeleteIt's still a wonderful speech!
Obama/Biden 2012!!
This was indeed a moving speech, speaking from his heart.
ReplyDeleteAs regards the 2005 bankruptcy situation
surely there is documentation that can explain why he took the stand he did. I cannot believe that Joe Biden would be an ass on this issue. There must have been a reason he took the stand he did.
All of his other actions and statements tend to support the idea that he is a compassionate man dedicated to the middle class. Great speech.
"surely there is documentation that can explain why he took the stand he did. I cannot believe that Joe Biden would be an ass on this issue. There must have been a reason he took the stand he did."
DeleteMany banks, particularly their credit arms, are incorporated in Delaware for tax purposes.
The joke was that Biden was the "Senator from MBNA." Byron York wrote about that a few years ago: http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/225417/senator-mbna/byron-york
Biden couldn't not support pro-bank legislation. He was their Senator, after all.
Anonymous 6:54 PM
Delete"...As regards the 2005 bankruptcy situation
surely there is documentation that can explain why he took the stand he did. I cannot believe that Joe Biden would be an ass on this issue. There must have been a reason he took the stand he did."
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I felt the same way, Anonymous. It didn't square with what I understood to be VP Biden's values. Try this, from the 2007 primary season. It makes much more sense now: http://tinyurl.com/btrwqcd
Biden ROCKS!!
ReplyDeleteJoe has known true heartache, he understands what it is like to lose those you love the most. Bravo VP Biden, bravo!
ReplyDeleteI highly recommend his autobiography "Promises to Keep"!!
ReplyDeleteI have VP. Joe Biden's book: "Promises To Keep".
ReplyDeleteI am awed by his memoir history and the one part of how hard he had to struggle in the face of severe adversity, but never lost his will to live. His mother told him; "Out of every tragedy, if you look hard enough, you can find one good thing."
I tacked that saying on my computer shelf when my hubby died two years ago, to remind me as well.
Joe Biden's speech to Military Heroes will rank with one of the best ever
ReplyDeletehttp://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/05/26/1095110/-Joe-Biden-s-speech-to-Military-Heroes
His best speech ever! I'm so glad President Obama and he are running our country! They are 'both' very, very warm people!
ReplyDeleteJoe and Jill Biden are terrific human beings. I have always had great respect for Joe as a statesman and Jill as an educator. They have both contributed so much. Thanks for posting this moment.
ReplyDeleteNo, my mind has not changed! I knew he was a caring person.
ReplyDeleteJoe hit a home run with that speech. He connected with his audience not with shallow platitudes, but by sharing his grief journey with them. His book, Promises to Keep is a great read.
ReplyDeleteWhat an honor it is to have him as Vice President.
In an alternate universe, where up is down and roadkill are wigs-
Screech, if she hadn't lost the election, would be saying "Happy Memorial Day! We're having a traditional Alaskan Barbeque, just like the heroes, Don't forget the displaying of the Amerrycan Flag and the roasting of the marshmallows! Firecrackers, also too, It was on this day that our forefathers signed the constitution, God Bless the USA!
HAHAHAHAHAHA
DeleteThank you for posting this. When I saw it on Rachel's show,I hoped it would go far and wide. It was a heartfelt speech and one that really was aimed at the Gold Star families who really could relate with his message, they knew that he knew their pain oh so well.
ReplyDeleteI related with his guilt, I was quoted in local paper once while we were setting up a tombstone display at the courthouse to show the human cost of war, how I felt guilty that my son-in-law came home from Iraq pretty much intact and my daughter hadn't been sent there yet while so many of our kids didn't get the chance to come home alive. Grateful, yes,relieved yes, but my heart goes out to all those families who will have to live with these wars the rest of their lives. It didn't have to happen, it shouldn't happened. Justice will be served when George Bush, Darth Cheney, and Rumsfield are held truly accountable for crimes against humanity.
Thanks Gryphen, never knew a politian could give a speech like that. So totally unpolitical. So totally moving. Good on Joe Biden!
ReplyDeleteI hope his heart isn't 3 times as large.
ReplyDeleteThat's called hypertrophy and it really isn't healthy.
But I digress.
Gotta love Joe.
Gryphen didn't mean literally, silly-willy.
DeleteAnd remember, it was Ted Stevens, who had recently list his own wife, who took joe Biden under his wing. They supported each other in the deepest depths of tragedy. Despite opposing politics, this is why Biden gave the eulogy at uncle Teds funeral.
ReplyDeleteI already knew Jo Biden and what he was about...thats why Obama picked him. -E
ReplyDeleteI was following the debate between Tom Barrett and Scott Walker on CSPAN yesterday on Twitter using the hashtag #WIdebate.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't figure out why the right wingers who were jeering at Barrett every once in a while would throw in a nasty tweet about Joe Biden. Now I know.
Those soulless right wingers nullify your guarantee, Gryphen. "I guarantee that by the end of it your feelings about Joe Biden will have changed dramatically."
Thanks for posting this, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteNot to bring her wretched name into it, but this reminds me that when Joe was tearing up during the VP debate about the loss of his wife and child, Sarah Palin couldn't even manage a human response.
Basic kindness and empathy isn't part of her repertoire.
She couldn't even fake it because she was so programed to stick to her small, pathetic talking points.
I thought the speech was wonderful. Vice President Biden connected so well with the people in the audience and with all those of us who saw it. Death and grief are never easy subjects and he handled it with grace and tact and wisdom.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
Love Joe Biden, for many, many reasons.
ReplyDeleteI recall that when he mentioned this staggering personal tragedy in the VP debate, Sarah Palin stared straight ahead without a flicker of emotion--an early sign of her ventriloquist-dummy sensibility.
I also heard this speech on Rachel's program and was moved to tears. I have always liked the VP (and his lovely wife as well) but hearing him speak so freely about his experiences with grief touched my heart. Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one can identify with his words.
ReplyDeleteMy mother passed away ten months ago and it was like my whole world fell apart. She was my best friend and I miss her every moment of every day. Biden's words give me hope that someday things will get better and I will be able to smile again.
Thank you, Vice President Biden, for your honesty, empathy and compassion. I am proud to call you my Vice President and proud to support such warm and understanding person to continue to be the Vice President of this country.